DEFENCE OF LEGAL DRUGS GOES TO POT

Many years ago, my father and his friend, a provincial court judge,
were having a long, fine lunch. The judge had two double martinis
before the meal, a couple of glasses of wine during, and a cognac
afterward with his coffee.

The judge was hearing a drunk-driving case that afternoon at four
o'clock and told my father: "I thought I'd try and find some common
ground with the defendant."

In the war on drugs, the judiciary, the police and the politicians
seem to be of the opinion: "If we use it, it should be legal; if we
don't, it should be illegal."

I feel the only reason we should have drug laws is to prevent people
from using substances that can harm them or harm others, and have
little or no therapeutic benefit.

Having worked for over 25 years in some of the busiest emergency
departments in the country, I feel qualified to opine on the physical
dangers of drug use.

I define danger very simply: If using the substance is responsible for
getting you, or someone you come in contact with, in trouble. You can
define trouble any way you want. But if the drug necessitates a trip
to the emergency department, that is trouble.

Alcohol is far and away the leader. Long-time users come in with liver
failure, bleeding from various places in their digestive tracts or in
the ravages of D.T.s.

I've seen the families of alcoholics and they are the victims of
violence and/or neglect. I have seen teenagers vomiting until their
stomachs bleed.

I have x-rayed, and set more fractures than I can count, of those who
have fallen while "under the influence."

I really cannot recall one ER shift that did not have at least one
patient as a direct result of alcohol.

The second worst category of drugs is tobacco. Lung cancers and
emphysema are almost all caused by smoking, but neither will land you
in the ER. The morgue, yes, but not the ER.

I have seen terrible burns caused by smoking in bed. The collateral
damage, caused by second-hand smoke is enormous. Many of the children
that I saw with croup and asthma had parents that smoked.

Those are the big two that account for about 98 per cent of all
drug-related ER visits.

The next group, in terms of numbers, is prescription
medications.

I have seen fatal reactions when children inadvertently, or teens
adventurously, took their parents' medications. I have treated too
many suicide attempts, almost all involving prescription or
over-the-counter medications.

I've seen young women almost dead due to electrolyte imbalance caused
by using diuretics, emetics and laxatives in an attempt to get or stay
slim. I've seen athletes and athletic wannabes with abscesses caused
by injecting steroids.

The really heavy drugs - crack, heroin, speed, crystal meth - cause
terrible problems. But, compared with the above, the numbers are very
small and the collateral damage is really quite small.

That being said, I have not seen one person, in all my 25 years in
ERs, that got into medical trouble from marijuana. This does not mean
that marijuana is innocuous. It is illegal, and it affects short-term
memory. And there is growing evidence that using marijuana and driving
is contributing to traffic accidents.

This is in no way to be construed as an endorsement for marijuana. But
if there was a choice, it would help relieve congestion in our ERs.

I base this opinion solely on the evidence that I have gathered not on
any ideology. I wish our politicians would do the same.